Apparatus for continuously processing thread or the like



July 15, 1941. w. F. KNEBUSCH 2,249,710

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING THREAD OR THE LIKE Original Filed Feb. 18, 1935 --'-L-:' I 6c Z8 26 a in v 25 I i m E L'Tso f F If) i2 16 MALTER EKNEBuscH 5y Patented July 15, 1941 APPARATUS FORCONTINUOUSLY PROCESSg ING THREAD OR. THE LIKE Walter F. KnebuschBocky River, Ohio, assignor to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation'of Delaware OriginalapplicationFebruary 18, 1935, Serial No. 7,113. Divided'and this application January 25, 1938, Serial No. 186,801v

3 Claims;

This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for continuously. processing thread or the like, especially artificial silk'thread. More particularly, the invention relates to the progressive introduction into the thread of a predetermined "amount of stretch, the stretching being accomplished bypassing. the-thread successively over the surfaces of a series of .flared threadadvancing reels. The use of .a series of flared reels makes it possible to effect a gentle stretching of a very considerable length of thread giving rise to a product having an enhanced. tensile strength, an unusually low ductility, andahigh degree of uniformity. 7 The subject matter of the present'application is described but not claimed in application Serial No. 7,113,f1led February 18, 1935, of which the instant application is a division.

While the invention is capable of particularly advantageous employment in the production of multiple filament artificial silk thread by any of the usual processes, such as the viscose, cuprammonium, nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate processes, the invention has been illustrated and will be described hereinafter as employed in the manufacture of viscose artificial silk thread. The invention resides not only in the novel method of stretching thread hereinafter described, but also in the apparatus employed for stretching it; however, in respect ofv neither the method nor the apparatus is the invention to'be understood as restricted to the manufacture'of artificial silk thread.

One form of apparatus which may be employedto advantage in the practice of the present invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, on the line I-l of Figure 2, certain parts being, shown" diagrammatically; Figure 2 is an end elevation from the right of Figure 1, with parts broken away and in section: Figure 3 is a sectional view'on the line 33 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is aplan corresponding to Figure 3; Figure 5 is a detailed sectional elevation on the line 5-5 of Figure 3; and Figure 6 is an end view from the left in Figure 3. Correspon'ding parts are identified inall views by corresponding reference characters. 7

It will, of course, be readily understood that the apparatus forming part ofv the present invention may take various forms. Generally speaking, however, such apparatus will embody means for converting the spinning solution into a thread, such means takin g theform of a spinning nozzle; a plurality of flared thread-advancing reels of a number suflicient to enable the necessary process steps to be performed upon the thread; and acollecting-device on or in which the thread is wound into convenient package form. As illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the apparatus embodies a number of parallel thread processing units each of which units "is capable of producing 'a single multiple filament artificialsilk thread which is caused to travel in sequence over the several reels of such unit;

Referring toFigure 3, each such reel may, as shown; consist of two members ill and H, both of which are rigid-in the sense. that all of their respectiveparts are fixedand immovable with respect to eachother.

Member ID may be termed the concentric member, becauseit is fixed to and rotates with the drive shaft 12. This reel member includes a body portion of generally cylindrical formwith its periphery slotted to form a series of alternatingbars I3 and recesses M, the body portion being mountedi upon a sleeve l5 keyed to the shaft "l2 and held in place thereon by acap screw l6 threaded into the shaft. The head of the cap screws 16 passes through and serves to clamp in place an imperforate disc I'Lthe'beveled periphery of which seats against and forms'a sealed joint with the correspondingly beveled end of the imperforate wall of the body portion of member l0.

The other member I I of the reel may be called its eccentric member; because, while'it isgenerally of cy1indri'ca1'form,"it is mounted with its axis both offset slightly'from andjinclined to the axis ofthe shaft l2. The member 'I has shown, comprises a head formed of inner ring it and outer ring I9, the'former of which has peripheral slots to receive bars 20. Rings, I8 and I9 are respectively externally and internally tapered, being held together in their home position by screws 2|. The inner ring I8 is attached to a sleeve 22 journalledto rotate upon a supporting tubular member 23, which surrounds shaft l2 and is spaced therefrom with itsaxis slightly oifset from andinclined with relation to the axisof said shaft.

In Figure 3, the reel is shown as regularly flared; i. e., progressively increasing in diameter fromits thread-receiving to its thread-discharging end. The flared conformation, which is for the purpose of imparting the desired degree of stretchto the thread, may but need not necessarily take the'form of a frusto-conical surface, as illustrated. Preferably, the reel is of cantilever form; i. e., supported and driven from one end only, as a result of which the operation, inspection and maintenance of the reel are greatly facilitated. If, as in Figure 3, the reel is of cantilever form, the direction of advance of the thread and hence of the increase in diameter of the reel is, of course, from the supported to the unsupported end of the reel.

The reel elements, or at least those which come into contact with corrosive reagents, are preferably made of such materials and in such manner as to be unaffected by the various processing media. In the form shown, concentric member l may be formed integrally of hard rubber, Bakelite or'similar material molded around or in such manner as to include the central metal bearing sleeve I5. In the case of eccentric mem ber II, the several parts may all be molded of similar material, the ring around or to include the central metal bearing sleeve 22. Screws, nuts, bars and other parts of the reel may be either made of or coated with some material unaffected by reagents or, if desired, they may be shielded from reagents by washers, packings, sleeves or the like.

It will be noted that, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4, the reels of each unit are not only arranged in parallel relation, but in vertically stepped arrangement. The driving and threadreceiving end of each reel is therefore directly beneath the thread-discharging end of the next preceding reel. With such an arrangement, the thread advances'in the same direction over all the reels. The reels are presented endwise, their flared ends facing a common front; i. e., the face of the machine from which the reels are tended by the operator. Each reel is provided with suitable means for supplying and removing the treating medium to which the thread is subjected on such reel.

Each unit has a drive shaft provided at intervals with spiral gears 26, each of which drives a spiral gear 21 on a short shaft 28 connected by suitable change speed gears 29 to'a shaft 30 extending lengthwise of the machine and arranged to drive corresponding reels in different units. At each unit, for example, the shaft 30 is provided with a spiral gear 3| driving a spiral gear 32 loosely rotatable on the reel shaft I2 and capable of being operatively connected to it by a clutch marked generally 33. Shaft I2 is connected to, supports and drives the concentric member I 0 of each reel which, in turn, drives the eccentric member I l of such reel.

In practice, the thread I is received from the spinning nozzle, or from the preceding reel, as the case may be, on the receiving end of reel 8a, along which it is caused to progress automatically in the form of a large number; e. g., fifty to two hundred, of closely spaced, generally helical turns. Due to the stepped arrangement of the reels 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, etc., it can be received in an entirely similar manner on the driving and receiving end of reel 81), along which it progresses as before until it reaches the discharge end of reel 81). It is then threaded up on the third reel, 80, and so on until it has been subjected to the successive treating processes, in addition to being progressively stretched over all of the reels of the series, and finally reaches the cap twister or other collecting means (not shown).

The fact that artificial silk thread may, if desired, be stretched to reduce its potential elongation has been recognized for some time; but

I8 being molded the general practice in both the remote and recent past has been to submit such thread to only a moderate degree of stretching, generally not over about 20 or 30%. In methods thus far employed, the stretching ha been exerted in the early stages of regeneration of the cellulose content of the viscose, over comparatively short lengths of thread, at best only a few feet, and for a period not exceeding a second or two. By contrast, the present invention permits of the gradual stretching of the thread during and after the regeneration of the cellulose content of the viscose, over successive periods of time approaching and, if desired, exceeding half a minute each, and over thread lengths hundreds of times as great as those heretofore employed.

Extensive'experiments have established that if, as in prior pot-and spool-spinning practice, viscose is extruded through a spinneret into a coagulatingbath, the viscose on the surface of each filament is coagulated as and remains for some time in the form of a film surrounding a liquid core. Completion of the regeneration of the cellulose content of the viscose may not and often does not occur for a considerable period after the time of the extrusion of the viscose into the coagulating bath. If, in such circumstances the thread while still in the coagulation stage is stretched in a short space of time by even as little as 20 or 30%, lack of uniformity of the degree of coagulation of the thread from point to point along its length gives rise to quite difierent physical and physico-chemical properties in different parts of one and the same thread.

For these reasons it is advantageous to apply the stretch to the thread over a much greater period of time which, as desired, may or may not include the final stages of the period of regeneration of the cellulose content of the viscose. This may be done particularly conveniently by the practice of the present invention which to the end of permitting the stretching of the thread over a long period of time employs a plurality of flared reels on each of which the thread is progressively stretched. An exceptionally high degree of uniformity in the physical and physico-chemical characteristics of the thread, is thereby made possible.

An advantageous feature of the invention is the elimination of the guides needed to direct the travel of the thread over the usual godet wheels. It is a well known fact that the guides employed with godet wheel create undue friction on the thread and contribute to lack of uniformity in the product, with consequent variations in strength, dyeing properties and other characteristics. In the present invention, the slippage of the thread which occurs so often on a single godet wheel or in stretching between two or more godet wheels operated at different peripheral s eeds is not experienced. In addition, the overriding of thread turns with consequent breakage of filaments which sometimes occurs in the stretching of thread by means of godet wheels is not found.

These and other important advantages readily apparent to those skilled in the art emphasize the practical value of the present invention. As has been indicated, various changes and modifications may, within the scope of the claims, be made in the invention without in any way departing from the spirit thereof: among other things, other forms of thread store devices may be used in lieu of the thread-advancing reels herein described. It is intended that the patent frame structure, driven by said power means shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty reside in the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for stretching thread or the like comprising a frame structure having power means associated therewith; a first thread-advancing reel of cantilever construction rotatably mounted on said frame structure and driven by said power means, said thread-advancing reel being progressively flared from a thread-receiving zone adjacent its supported end to a threaddischarge zone adjacent its unsupported end with a view to gradually stretching a considerable length of thread or the like over a relatively long period of time; a second thread-advancing reel of like character rotatably mounted on said and arranged with its small end in juxtaposition to the large end of said first thread-advancing reel, whereby thread or the like discharged from said first thread-advancing reel may be subjected to a further stretching operation on said second thread-advancing reel; and take-up means to which the thread or the like proceeds from said second thread-advancing reel.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 embodying means for applying liquid to the thread or the like in the course of one, at least, of the stretching operations.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1 embodying means for applying liquid to the thread or the like on each of said thread-advancing reels.

" WALTER F. KNEBUSCH. 

